As with the original, “The Purge: Anarchy” has one selling point: it's excessively violent. It also raises questions about guns, God and class warfare, all with the subtlety of an AK-47.

For those who missed the original, the United States is now governed by the New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA), a political organization with a religious bent and a plan to rid the country of its evil ways. It has done so by enacting the Purge. To wit, every year, for a 12-hour period from March 21 at 7 p.m. to March 22 at 7 a.m., all crime is legal. That includes murder, theft, rape and, of course, most heinous of all, rampant jaywalking. And guess what? The Purge works. Since its inception, it has proven incredibly successful at reducing crime.

The only problem is that it pits people who have the resources to protect themselves from “purgers” – the majority of whom are mask-wearing lunatics armed to the teeth with all manner of weapons – against those who don't. The former are mostly rich and white. The latter are mostly poor and black.

You can imagine some people, oh, I don't know, white supremacists perhaps, will watch this film and thrill at this concept even though writer/director James DeMonaco is actually taking dead aim – sorry – at them. One also has to wonder what faith-based folks will think of the purgers who pray before committing wholesale slaughter.

But hey, issues schmissues, it's just cool to watch the impoverished get hacked to death with machetes and riddled with bullets. Only the strong survive, baby. You'd almost be tempted to accuse DeMonaco of being hypocritical as he portrays the gun crowd as maniacs yet revels in their blood-soaked body count. The film doesn't work as a satire, by the way. It's simply an exercise in overkill, literally. Its “messages” might even get lost on the people DeMonaco is criticizing. The first film was a box-office hit. I wonder how it played with the NRA and in the Bible Belt.

As for the plot, first, we first meet Eva (Carmen Ejogo) and her daughter Cali (Zoe Soul), who end up on the street after bad guys break into their apartment. Then we meet Shane (Zach Gilford) and Liz (Kiele Sanchez), a couple on the outs who end up on the street after their car breaks down. Finally, we meet the Man With No Name (Frank Grillo), a heavily armed individual who ends up on the street with revenge on his mind.

Page 2 of 2 - They quite naturally all meet up in a nameless city and try their best not to get killed. The Man With No Name agrees to protect them after being told that he'll get a car from one of Eva's friends. This way he can drive to his destination and exact his revenge. That is, if he can get to the friend's apartment alive.

The remainder of the movie shows our plucky quintet dealing with an assortment of crazies.

The sequel does include a few alterations such as the presence of a radical blogger named Carmelo (Michael K. Williams), who calls for a revolt against the NFFA. Can you guess his color? Then there are the mysterious trucks populated by military-looking types with large weapons. My goodness, you don't think our benevolent government would get involved in this murderous mayhem, do you?

At least the original benefited from a hook, though sloppily executed, of what happens when gun violence runs amok. The original also starred Ethan Hawke and Lena Heady. In addition, it had a subplot regarding the repercussions of rescuing a black man from the purgers, one of whom was delightfully psychotic.

As is the case with most sequels, “The Purge: Anarchy” exists solely as a money grab. But some people actually like seeing the same movie multiple times, especially if it keeps delivering what they want in a movie. Here, it's violence. One has to wonder how many times DeMonaco can milk his high concept. Hey, if enough people see this, we can certainly expect another sequel. Maybe this one will feature a horde of marauding infants. Get ready for “The Purge: Killer Pacifiers.”